Sport and Physical Activity

HL Deb 07 September 2004 vol 664 c123WA

Lord Pendry

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How they are using the London 2012 Olympic Bid to encourage greater physical activity among the general population. [HL3988]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Bidding for and, if successful, staging the Olympics is part of the Government's wider drive to increase participation in sport and physical activity. We are working with London 2012 to harness the profile of the bid to inspire more people to get active. So far, the bid has been used to help promote activities such as the 42 regional Youth Games events across the country, including Europe's largest youth sports festival at Crystal Palace in July, where over 12,000 competitors took part.

In the event of a successful bid, strategies will be developed to ensure that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are used to underpin the UK-wide participation drive lead by the Activity Co-ordination Team (ACT).